Tree-tapping tool.



No. 761,367. PATBNTED MAY31,1904.

W. E. FISH.

TREE TAPPING TOOL} APPLICATION FILED AUG. 26, 1903.

N0 MODE 1 View of the improved tapping-tool.

Patented May 31, 1904.

PATE T OFFICE.

WARREN: E. FISH, or

RACINE, WISCONSIN.

TREE-TAPPING TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,367, dated May 31 1904.

Application filed August 26, 1908.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN E. FIsH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Racine, county of Racine, and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tree-Tapping Tools, of which the following is declared to be a full, clear, and exact description.

The improvement relates to means fortapping trees andin particular devices for properly tapping rubber-trees, and the invention seeks to provide a simple form of tool by which the tapping may be rapidly eifected without requiring special skill for its manipulation.

At present rubber-trees are generally tapped by cutting a V -shaped groove in the bark of a tree with a heavy knife or machete.

this instrument two blows are struck to form intersecting cuts, so that a strip is cutout, leaving a groove in the bark of a tree. This method-requires considerable skill, since the bark of the tree should be cut as deeply as possible for good results; but the out should not extend into the wood or the tree will be injured, and since the gummy rubber sap gushes rapidly from a gash in the tree-bark it is often difiicult to obtain skilled labor at rubber plantations, and at best the trees cannot be rapidly and satisfactorily tapped with the devices now employed.

The present improvement provides a treetapping tool having two blades, the cutting planes of which intersect at an angle and by.- which a strip of bark is out out at a single blow; and the invention consists in the features of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 7 and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective Fig. 2 is an end view thereof.

Two long cutting-blades 1 and 5 are mounted at the end and on one side of a suitable handle 6, so that the tool may be used in the manner of an ordinary ax to strike a blow into the bark of the tree. The blades are arranged substantially parallel with the handle,

Serial No. 170,781- (No model.)

'gether by the impact of the blades as they are driven into the bark of the tree, and thus serve to cut out a strip therefrom and form a I groove at a single operation.

JYA metal sleeve 7 surrounds the end of the handle 6 and is preferably oval in shape, as indicated, so that it may be firmly secured to the similarly-shaped end of the handle. A pair of curved arms or lugs 8 project laterally, one from each end of the sleeve 7 and With Moreover, the blades are 1 are rigidly secured thereto or preferably, as

indicated, formed in piece with the sleeve. The blade 4: is removably secured to the ends of the arms or lugs 8 by bolts 9, and preferably shoulders 10 are provided on the lugs 8 and arrangedto engage the upper edge of the blade, as indicated. In a similar manner the blade 5 is secured to a pair of curved lugs or arms 11, which are connected together by a brace-bar 12, preferably formed in piece therewith. Arms 11 and the blade 5, mounted thereon, 'are pivotally secured to the sleeve 7 by a bolt 13, which extends through openings in the upper ends of the arms 11 and through openings in the-upper ends of the arms 8. Pins 14 extend through openings in the ends of the pivot-bolt to hold the latter against displacement.

-Bolts 15 extend loosely through holes in the blade-supporting arms 8 and 11 and are provided with adjusting winged nuts 16. Springs 17 coiled about the bolts 15 and engaging the oppositely-disposed arms 8 and 11, yieldingly hold the latter and the blades supported therebyapart, as-indicated. g

V The oppositely-curved supporting-arms 8 and 11 are so arranged that the blades are convergent and the cuttingplanes thereof intersect at an angle. Moreover, the latter are the bark of the tree, and thus out out a strip substantially V shape in section. It will be noted that the blades 4 and 5 are arranged parallel with the pivot-bolt 13, so that the relative shift of the blades is a parallel motion--that is to say, the blades are relatively shiftable to and from each other in parallel relation in contradistinction to the relative movement of blades connected by a pivot arranged at right angles thereto, as with a pair of ordinary shears.

The blades 4: and 5 are preferably formed of flat steel strips of some thickness, the outer faces of which are beveled away at their lower portion, as most clearly indicated in Fig. 2, to form the cutting edges. The bevels thus formed on the outer sides of the cutting edges assist in forcing the blades together as they are driven into the tree; but by reason of the convergent arrangement of the. blades they would operate, as described, independently of the particular manner in which the cutting edges are formed.

To prevent actual contact between the cutting edges of the blades, inwardly-projecting and oppositely-arranged stops 18 are fixed to or formed in' piece with the arms 8 and 11. These stops are so disposed that the cutting edges of the-bladesmay approach each other in suificiently close relation to sever the strip of bark from the tree without actual contact between the blades, so that injury to the cutting edges is avoided. By removably mounting the blades 4 and 5, as described, they can be readily replaced-when necessary.

It is apparent that the instant the stops 18 contact with each other the blades cannot penetrate farther into the tree, and it is also apparent that,by adjusting the blades to and from each other the depth to which they will penetrate may be regulated. In use the winged nut 16 will be adjusted in accordance with the size 'of the tree to be tapped and the thickness of bark thereon to adjust the blades nearer together or farther apart. In this manner the tool may be nicely adjusted, so that without any special skill .on .the part of the operator the bark may be cut through, but all danger of penetrating the wood of the tree is prevented. Moreover, with the instrument the trees may be tapped much more rapidly than with the instruments now in use.

Itis obvious that numerous changes may be made in the details of structure without departure from the essentials of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A tree-tapping tool having a pair of blades, the cutting planes of which intersect at an angle, said blades being spaced normally apart and arranged to be forced toward each other when driven into the tree.

2. A tree-tapping tool having a pair of convergent blades, the cutting planes of which intersect at an angle, said blades being normally spaced apart and relatively shiftable to and from each other in parallel relation whereby they are forced toward each other when driven into the tree.

3. A tree-tapping tool having a pair of convergent blades, the cutting planes of which intersect at an angle, said blades being yieldingly held apart and relatively shiftable to and from each other in parallel relation and the cutting edges of said blades being beveled on their outer sides.

4. A tree-tapping tool comprising a handle and a pair of convergent blades mounted thereon, the cutting planes of which intersect at an angle, said blades being yieldingly held apart and relatively shiftable to and from each other in parallel relation.

5. A tree-tapping tool having a pair of convergent blades spaced apart, one of said blades being pivotally mounted to shift to and fromv the other in parallel relation.

6. A tree-tapping tool having a pair of convergent blades the cutting planes of which intersect at an angle, said blades being spaced apart and relatively shiftable toward each other and means for adjusting the normal, relative position of said blades.

7. A tree-tapping tool having a pair of convergent blades the cutting planes of which in- -tersect at an angle, said blades being yieldingly spring-held apart and relatively shiftable toward each other in parallel relation and stops for limiting the relative shift of said blades.

8. A tree-tapping tool comprising a handle, a pair of convergent blades mounted thereon and yieldingly, spring-held apart, one of said blades being pivotally mounted to shift to and from the other in parallel relation and stops for limiting the shift of said blades.

9. A tree-tapping tool comprising a handle, a pair of convergent blades spaced apart and mounted at one end and to one side of said handle and arranged substantially parallel therewith, one of said blades being pivotally mounted to shift to and from the other in parallel relation.

10. A tree-tapping tool comprising a handle, apair of convergent blades mounted thereon, the cutting planes of which intersect at an angle, said blades being connected by a pivotbolt extending substantially parallel therewith.

WARREN E. FISH. Witnesses:

WILLIAM S. FIsII, ALBERT ARTHUR GUILBuR'r.

IIS 

